This invention relates to a machine which is arranged to enable an operator to perform various operations on a sheep such as crutching, mulesing, feet paring, drenching, mouth treatment, classing, vaccinating and the like.
The machine is essentially a device to enable the transfer of the sheep from a standing position in a pen into a cradle where the sheep lies on its back.
Various machines of this general type are already well known and as instances the specification of Australian Pat. No. 237,750 of 1960 can be referred to, which utilizes a holder into which a sheep is driven and this holder is then moved about a horizontal axis to turn the sheep onto its side and if necessary into a partially inverted position.
Another Australian specification is that of Letters Patent No. 248,370 of 1961 in which the sheep is driven from a race into wheel device where it can be laid on its side.
A U.S. Pat. No. 3,752,126 of RHOADES also uses a race and means to swing the animal from the race onto a table about a transverse axis.
The specification of U.S. Pat. No. 3,319,608, KLOOSTER, shows a device which grips and tilts an animal into various positions using a hinge about the animal race and in this device the animal must be lifted first to a horizontal position and it can then be swung over into an inverted position.
The specification of French Pat. No. 2,385,326 shows an arrangement in which an animal is simply gripped in a device and is then rotated into a required position.